gold creek foods

What gold creek foods does

Gold Creek Foods, LLC is a privately-held, full-service chicken processor headquartered in Gainesville, Georgia, founded in 2000 by Mark Sosebee as Agora Foods and operating under its current name since 2004. The company runs 11 processing facilities across Georgia and Tennessee with over 3,400 employees, producing fresh, raw marinated, par-fried, fully cooked, and breaded chicken products, including Ready-to-Eat (RTE) lines with over 135 million pounds of combined capacity added across 2017 and 2021, mechanically separated chicken (MSC), and whole-muscle items. Its core technology centers on automated deboning equipment, RTE production lines for strips and diced meats, and CN-labeled product approvals compliant with the National School Lunch Program (NSLP), including whole grain, halal, and gluten-free options.

The company serves four primary customer segments: K-12 school nutrition programs via a dedicated direct sales team covering 20+ states and reporting 72% K-12 commodity market share growth in 2020; retail grocery chains (Costco, Safeway, Food Lion, Brookshire Brothers, Hy-Vee) via its Quick & Eat! burgers and broader retail packaged chicken portfolio; national food brand accounts supplied with custom-manufactured fresh, raw marinated, par fry, and fully cooked products; and contract processing customers via toll-processing capacity. Pricing is B2B and quote-based with no public disclosure.

Gold Creek has pursued an acquisition-driven inorganic growth strategy, adding four plants and over 35 million pounds of RTE/par fry capacity via the 2021 Foundation Food Group acquisition and the Caryville, TN-based Campos Foods LLC (including the Quick'N Eat brand) in 2023, with the most recent capacity addition being the GC20-Candler Road plant in 2025. The company is led by founder/CEO Mark Sosebee with Michael Sheets as President and Emileigh Greene as CFO, with no disclosed institutional or private equity ownership.

Name

gold creek foods

Legal name

Gold Creek Foods, LLC

Website

https://agorafoods.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2000

Operating status

Operating

Short description

Gold Creek Foods is a privately-held, full-service chicken processor in Gainesville, Georgia operating 11 plants and 3,400+ employees serving K-12 schools, retail grocers, national food brands, and contract processing customers with fresh, fully cooked, and RTE chicken products.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Poultry Processing

NAICS

Poultry Processing (311615), Frozen Specialty Food Manufacturing (311412)

SIC

Poultry Slaughtering And Processing (2015), Sausages & Other Prepared Meat Products (2013)

akta.pro primary industry

Broiler Processing (Whole Bird, Parts, Further Processing) (AFANACAI)

akta.pro secondary industries

Frozen Meat & Poultry Meals & Value-Added Proteins (CRADADAH), Frozen Prepared Meat & Seafood Meals (AFANAFAC)

Keywords

• Poultry processing services
• Ready-to-eat chicken
• K-12 school foodservice
• Custom chicken manufacturing
• Fully cooked chicken

Headquarters

HQ city

Gainesville

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices13 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Personnel, Supply Chain, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. K-12 Sales: Sale of chicken products to K-12 schools meeting government nutrition guidelines. Products include CN labeled nuggets, patties, tenders, breakfast items compliant with NSLP.
2. National Accounts: Custom manufacturing of premium products for national food brands. Serves fresh, raw marinated, par fry, and fully cooked products to national brand customers.
3. Retail: Sale of chicken products to retail grocery stores. Products include breaded tenders, boneless wings, breast fillets, formed nuggets, grilled products, and various packaging options.
4. Custom Processing/Contract Processing: Provides extra line time and processing capacity to other processors. Offers fresh, fully cooked, deboned, and sized products to meet customer specifications.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Gold Creek Foods operates as a full-service chicken processor, producing fresh, raw marinated, par fry, and fully cooked chicken products across 11 processing facilities in Georgia and Tennessee. The company serves four primary customer segments — K-12 school nutrition programs (CN labeled products), retail grocery chains, national food brand accounts, and contract processing customers — while also selling consumer-facing brands such as Quick & Eat!, Clux Deluxe, and Kings Delight.

Product overview

Gold Creek Foods is a full-service chicken processor offering a unified portfolio of fresh, fully cooked, and breaded chicken products across multiple market segments. The company operates K-12 nutrition programs (CN-labeled whole grain products like nuggets, patties, tenders, and popcorn chicken), Retail products (whole muscle breaded items, formed products, grilled items, bone-in wings), National Accounts (fresh, raw marinated, par fry, and fully cooked products for major food brands), and Custom Processing services. The portfolio includes acquired brands Quick'N Eat (consumer burgers), Clux Deluxe, and Kings Delight, serving K-12 schools, retail supermarkets, national food service chains, and contract processing customers through 11 processing facilities.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Quick & Eat!: Brand of burgers and food products available in Costco, Safeway, Food Lion, Brookshire Brothers and Hy-Vee stores. Originally from Campos Foods LLC acquisition.
• Quick'N Eat
• Clux Deluxe
• Kings Delight

Products and services

• CN Fully Cooked Whole Grain Halal Chicken Patties (771421) CN-labeled fully cooked whole grain halal chicken patties for National School Lunch Program compliance, providing 2.0 oz equivalent meat/meat alternate and 1.0 oz equivalent grain per serving.
• CN Fully Cooked Whole Grain Chicken Nuggets (791401) CN-labeled fully cooked whole grain chicken nuggets for school nutrition programs, providing 2.0 oz equivalent meat/meat alternate and 1.0 oz equivalent grain.
• CN Fully Cooked Whole Grain Chicken Patties (791421) CN-labeled fully cooked whole grain chicken patties for National School Lunch Program, providing 2.0 oz equivalent meat/meat alternate and 1.0 oz equivalent grain.
• CN Fully Cooked Whole Grain Breakfast Patties (791426) CN-labeled fully cooked whole grain breakfast chicken patties for school breakfast programs, providing 1.0 oz equivalent meat/meat alternate and 0.5 oz equivalent grain.
• CN Fully Cooked Whole Grain Hot & Spicy Breaded Patty (791431) CN-labeled fully cooked whole grain hot and spicy breaded chicken patties for school nutrition programs.
• CN Fully Cooked Whole Grain Breaded Tenders (791441) CN-labeled fully cooked whole grain breaded chicken tenders for school nutrition programs, providing 2.0 oz equivalent meat/meat alternate and 1.0 oz equivalent grain.
• CN Fully Cooked Whole Grain Breaded Popcorn Chicken (791461) CN-labeled fully cooked whole grain breaded popcorn chicken for school nutrition programs.
• CN Fully Cooked Whole Grain Breaded Large Popcorn Chicken (791493) CN-labeled fully cooked whole grain breaded large popcorn chicken for school nutrition programs.
• Fully Cooked Shredded Chicken (791499) Fully cooked shredded chicken for school nutrition programs, providing 2.0 oz equivalent meat/meat alternate.
• Retail Chicken Product Line Retail chicken product line including whole muscle breaded tenders, boneless wings, breast fillets, bone-in wings (roasted or glazed), formed nuggets, tenders, patties, fun shapes, and grilled breast fillets and tenderloins for supermarket distribution.
• National Accounts Custom Manufacturing Custom-manufactured chicken products for national food service brands across four formats: fresh, raw marinated, par fry, and fully cooked.
• Custom Processing / Contract Processing Services Contract poultry processing services providing extra line time and processing capacity to other processors, including fresh, fully cooked, deboned, and sized products tailored to customer specifications.
• Quick & Eat! Consumer Burger Brand Consumer burger brand acquired with Campos Foods LLC in 2023, now available in select Costco, Safeway, Food Lion, Brookshire Brothers and Hy-Vee stores.
• Clux Deluxe Brand Sub-brand under Gold Creek Foods portfolio.
• Kings Delight Brand Sub-brand under Gold Creek Foods portfolio.

Named customers5 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered minor.

• School Food RocksminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with School Food Rocks to help school nutrition professionals plan nutritious, compliant meals using Gold Creek products. Provides Heath-e Pro recipes incorporating premium protein-first products for K-12 school nutrition.
• Hispanic AllianceminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCommunity partnership with Hispanic Alliance as part of Gold Creek Foods' commitment to community involvement and diversity initiatives.

Scale indicators13 records

Recent moves14 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Market position

Competitive moat5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UC2FW1y0Vt4FocQrRR_t_DBg
• Facebookfacebook.com/goldcreekfoodsllc
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/goldcreekfoods

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Subsidiaries3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about gold creek foods